Tonight we looked at the question God asked Jacob (‘What is your name?’) in probably the most famous wrestling match in the Bible. (Gen 32:22-32) This was a ‘pivotal point incident’ (as Mark Burgin once described it) in Jacob’s life, an encounter with the ‘angel of the Lord’ (probably the Lord Jesus in His pre-incarnate form) which changed the scheming, devious manipulator into ‘Israel’, one who struggled with God and overcame.
Names are incredibly important, especially in the Bible, and Jacob’s name (‘the grabber’, figuratively ‘he who deceives‘) had defined his life up to this point. Now, however, he is given a new name by God. We have all been given new identities in Christ, and it’s important that we understand we are now new creations in Him. (2 Cor 5:17) It’s easy for us to feel defined by other people’s expectations and to feel useless and inadequate because of other people’s assessments of us, but we need to understand that how God defines us is what matters.
God says we are:
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made in His image (Gen 1:27)
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His beloved children (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1)
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chosen by Him to bear fruit (John 15:16)
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redeemed, cleansed and forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:6-7)
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heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17)
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new creations (2 Cor 5:17)
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reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:19)
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His friends (John 15:15)
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more than conquerors through Christ who loved us (Rom 8:37)
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fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139:14)
We don’t have to be defined by our old names, by the person others told us we were. We don’t even have to be the person we thought we were! We can be new creations in Christ; we can live in a different way, for ‘the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.’ (Rom 8:3)
